With the election happening in a few weeks, it’s time to consider how the American public has played the political game: poorly. There are many points to analyze this from, though polarization would be a good place to start.
A 2024 Pew Research Center report states that currently, 94% of Democrats are left of the median and 92% of Republicans are right of the median. In short, the politically involved are mostly playing at the extremes.
This has been growing for decades, supposedly going back to the 1970s, however this year marks the worst this has been.
It is evident on social media. Instead of debate or meaningful discussion, users focus more on dogpiling onto any argument that goes against their perspective.
The presidential debate reflects how this duality has taken hold: neither Harris nor Trump seemed to be properly listening to one another, only looking for discrepancies amongst one another that could be used to shill their own campaign’s talking points.
A common statement is that American party allegiances are akin to sports team allegiances. However striking workers’ picket lines seem more fitting: cross once, get deemed a scab that is forever looked down upon.
Polarization has not only manifested on the debate stage, but in everyday life as well. There are plenty of Americans who are now adamant about their hopeless view of the system at-large.
Another Pew Research Center from 2023 states that 63% of Americans express little-to-no interest in our political system.
While it may be tempting to blame this on corrupt politicians and the systems that keep them in place (but not in check), considering this issue no further would be doing a similar disservice to the degree that both Harris and Trump have done: point the finger at other people for the bad things, while taking credit for the good things.
Consider also how the politically involved have exercised their interests as well: treating minute differing opinions as moral failings, bullying the other side, and using politics as a guide for who to talk to and not talk to. These are taxing to uphold.
Meeting the public with unfettered belligerence is a surefire method of creating disillusionment, leading to older generations enforcing their own decades-old view of life on the national scale with their continued votership.
However, despite the seemingly desperate rates of disillusionment and never-ending polarization, there is a light at the end of the road: the vice-presidential debate.
